Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,459,405 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,611 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.25% of Rockwell Automation worth $239,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROK. Zions Bancorporation N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Rockwell Automation in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Coastal Capital Group Inc. purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Thor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Rockwell Automation in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. TCG Advisors LP acquired a new position in Rockwell Automation during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rockwell Automation by 426.5% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.99% of the company’s stock.

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In other Rockwell Automation news, VP John M. Miller sold 3,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.67, for a total transaction of $531,927.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Blake D. Moret sold 297 shares of Rockwell Automation stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.53, for a total value of $47,974.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.43% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ROK. Gordon Haskett cut Rockwell Automation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Gabelli raised Rockwell Automation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Rockwell Automation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $168.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays lowered their price target on Rockwell Automation from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Rockwell Automation from $159.00 to $144.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $173.33.

ROK traded down $2.95 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $160.92. 30,340 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 728,323. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Rockwell Automation has a 1-year low of $141.46 and a 1-year high of $198.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $154.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.41.

Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. Rockwell Automation had a return on equity of 78.71% and a net margin of 15.44%. The company’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Rockwell Automation will post 8.63 EPS for the current year.